BRM OFFROAD

CORR 2006 RACE INFO & PIX

WEST SPORTSMAN ROUND 3 & 4 - JULY 2006, CHULA VISTA, CA

Despite record breaking heat (and a lot of humidity) we had a great time at rounds 3 & 4. Friday's practice was great, with a lot of action and racers helping one another out. The crowd turn-out was understandably a little low on Saturday as the temperature reached 110º. Normal temps for Chula Vista this time of year are around the upper 70's. With the temperature cooling down to the upper 90's for Sunday there were quite a few more spectators that made it out. As for Team BRM OFFROAD, we made some chassis and suspension adjustments after rounds 1 & 2 but never had the chance to test before this weekend. Luckily everything went smoothly and we had a great practice session. There were a few track changes since round 1 & 2 and every racer out there can tell you how exciting and technical turns 2-4 were. Turn 2 became a high speed turn that allowed us to just keep the throttle down, unless the car in front spun. Turn 3 was a gnarly 180º, downhill, off-camber corner that provided plenty of action in every race. The BRM OFFROAD crew video taped all the racing action from Saturday and were only able to get a few race shots on Sunday. We'll try to get this all figured out by rounds 5 & 6 in September J. Sportsman Single Buggy action on Saturday was great! There were 31 cars in our class and Jeff Barrett, #334 in the BRM OFFROAD GRAPHICS car, started on the very outside of row 1, position 16. When the green flag dropped for the start of the 16 lap race, it was a mad dash to turn 1. Coming out of turn 1 Jeff was around 22nd or so. He carefully got thru turn 3 with everyone else (it seemed like they all took it pretty slow the first couple laps). Juan Sanchotena in the #305 car had a mild rollover coming into turn 1 at the end of lap 1 which unfortunately ended his day. Then another racer, Cissy Baldwin #386 of Baldwin Racing, had some front suspension trouble and broke pretty much right in front of the flag tower. This all lead to a full course red flag condition. Once everyone was cleared the rolling restart was given. By lap 3 Jeff had just made a pass on someone only to give it back up, along with 8 other positions, while spinning out at the dog-leg exit. He got himself going again and started working his way thru the field. The help of the full-course yellow on lap 10 allowed him to catch up to the rest of the field. At that point he was in 17th. When the green was given Jeff made a few quick passes and then was battling for a few laps with Marcos Reyes in the #317 Stylers car, and Vic Bruckman in the #399 ORW (Off Road Warehouse) car, who had an earlier rollover in turn 3. They had a great battle exchanging positions until Jeff was finally able to break free. He then managed to reel in Dave Collier of Gnarly Racing in the #300 SAI car as they went thru the mogul section before the dog-leg (or 'S') section. It was intense side-by-side action as they headed down the back stretch. Coming into turn 1 on the final lap, racing towards the checkers, Jeff was on the outside and that may have helped him keep more speed thru the turn. It was a close call at the checkers, but Jeff just edged out Dave to take 9th on the day. It was awesome! This is only the 3rd time Jeff has been in this car and the 5th race ever. We're usually out riding our quads and don't really have an area to take the buggies for testing and seat time. After watching video of practice on Friday, we discussed how to hit some of the corners and work different lines, as if we were on our quads. It sure paid off... it was great. The finishing order for Round 3 on Saturday was lead by Jeff Knupp in the #354 Napa car taking his 3rd win in a row at Chula Vista. Greg Boyer (316) took 2nd and Ryan Schank (398) finished in a close 3rd. Sunday's action was also good, but not for us. The top 12 racers from Saturday were inverted putting Jeff in position 3 of row 1. Now normally you would think this was a great spot, heck I did J. The green flag waved and the racers were off. Coming into turn 1 Jeff was in about 7th with Vic Bruckman (399) just on his outside, along with Marcos Reyes (317), Cissy Baldwin (386), Evie Baldwin (366), and David Caspino (361). David was having a lot of brake trouble on Saturday. His brake pedal would stick on the floor, so he had to decide if he should really use his brakes or just keep reaching down to pull the pedal up. The start was crazy and exciting as all 31 cars made it thru the first turn without incident. The field went flying thru turn 2 and headed for turn 3. The field slowed quite a bit to make it thru the nail biter (Reyes Racing kids can attest to that J) and there may have been a little contact by a few racers as everyone was trying to hold their line and at the same time not give up a position. Everyone seemed to make it thru turns 3 and 4 and they headed up thru the doubles. Coming into turn 5 Jeff was still around 8th or 9th when his back left wheel hooked a rut and forced him out of the inside line he had. He was then clipped by someone on his left as he tried to keep going, but that just caused him to do a 180 spin in the well-water corner and then he was hit square on by Joe Laff in the 304 car. He then saw Evie Baldwin, #366 of Baldwin Racing, coming right at him. There wasn't much she could do as her front left hit the front of Jeff's left nerf bar. Evie was out with a broken left front end and Jeff was left to gimp our car around to the pit area. So after ½ a lap BRM OFFROAD was done, as well as a couple others. The racing action continued especially in the off-camber turn 3. Cissy Baldwin (386) was coming in to turn 3 high (right outside portion) when she turned left in front of 2 racers. They both tried to brake in time, but there wasn't much they could do. Kevin Walsh in the 318 car bumped Cissy and rolled her over. It was like you could see it coming and it was in such slow motion. Kevin and the other racer kept going, hardly missing a beat, while Cissy had to wait to be rolled back over. Greg Boyer in the 316 car, Sean Kennedy in the 331, and Vic Bruckman in the 399 put on a great show all the way to the checkers, leading the field. Kevin Graves in the 388 car finished in a close 4th. Kevin had a solid weekend finishing 4th both days. Actually Kevin Graves has finished 4th in all 4 rounds at Chula Vista... we'll just start referring to him as "Mr. Consistency" J Even though I'm sure he would rather finish on the podium. The Pro classes and the Super Buggies put on a great show both days too! Tell your friends about CORR and come and check out the best in short-course off-road racing!!! For more info visit www.corracing.com Enjoy the pix below and feel free to email us if you have any questions about getting involved in CORR (Championship Off Road Racing).

The wheel didn't fare as well...

It was hit pretty square on but we already talked to Marcos Reyes about one of his sponsors that may be able to help us out.

Pro-2 Action!!

WEST SPORTSMAN ROUND 5 & 6 - SEPTEMBER 2006, CHULA VISTA, CA

WEST SPORTSMAN ROUND 7 & 8 - OCTOBER 2006, CHULA VISTA, CA